Muzaffarnagar (UP), Jan 20 (PTI) Twelve people were arrested on Saturday for their alleged involvement in illegal cow slaughter after a brief encounter with police, officials said.

Three of the accused suffered bullet injuries in the encounter and were taken to hospital for medical care.

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Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abhishek Singh said, "A team of Kotwali police had an encounter with a gang involved in illegal cow slaughter. The accused opened fire on our teams that led to an encounter."

"A total of 12 accused have been arrested. Of these, Bhura, Munnawar and Tahseem suffered bullet injuries in the leg. The accused were taken to hospital and their condition is said to be stable," the SSP said.

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The police team recovered from the accused three cows, as many country-made pistols, live cartridges along with tools used to slaughter animals.

Cow slaughter is banned in Uttar Pradesh.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)